Sinn Féin - On Your Side

Sinn Féin MEP for the Midlands North West, Matt Carthy, has urged
the Irish Government to halt the proposed EU Mercosur trade deal with South
American countries.

Reacting to news that Germany will push for higher beef
concessions in order to get even better access for their car industry in the
next round of trade negotiations this week Carthy said:

“The EU’s trade agenda cannot be driven by one country, to
the peril of all others. And if there are any increases on the existing offers
of beef and poultry in Mercosur negotiations, this is exactly what will happen.

“When the mandate for Mercosur was agreed it was accepted by
all parties that agriculture would be extremely sensitive to any concessions on
tariffs. This position was bolstered following the Operation Weak Flesh
revelations before the summer.

“It is unacceptable that there are now reports that the
Commission is exerting further pressure to try and increase the October offer
of 70,000tn tariff free beef imports.

“Brexit is already threatening 32,000 job losses in the meat
industry according to a report published by the European Livestock and Meat
Traders Union. Yet here the Commission is gambling away the rest, with a
trading partner proven to be unable to guarantee even the minimum food safety
requirements.

“The stakes are too high in this deal to allow countries
like Germany to force our hand. A 15 year phase-in period for the opening up of
the car industry is a small price to pay in order to protect hundreds of
thousands of jobs in agriculture.

“I have already written to Commissioner Hogan on this topic,
and I have demanded full disclosure on the offers made on poultry, an important
sector in many Irish regions which has often been forgotten in the Mercosur
debate.

"Disappointingly, he has yet to
answer my letters and requests, showing again the lack of transparency and
undemocratic nature of these negotiations.

“Threats of increased offers on beef must not be used as
leverage to push farmers to agree to the grossly excessive offers made in
October. These offers must be retracted if the sector is to have any chance of
surviving. The Irish government must now insist that these negotiations are
halted”.